A promise to keep
by CelestialAuthor
Summary: Ash and Misty have had a certain type of relationship for years, both wanting more but both assuming the other is happy with the current arrangement. Misty can't take it anymore and snaps. A Christmas Present written for my best friend Whiscash


**A promise to keep.**

 **A/N Christmas Fanfic exchange 2017 by BraixenBoy17 for Whiscash**

 **Merry Christmas to one of my very best friends. I hope you enjoy this fic as much as I enjoyed writing it! I love you x**

Ash collapsed down into the empty space on his bed next to Misty. He carelessly threw the now used condom towards the bin on the other side of his bedroom, meanwhile Misty got dressed again. Sitting on the edge of the bed with her back to Ash.

"Wow! I really missed you" Ash smiled turning to face Misty, who still had her back to him. He propped himself up on one arm, resting his palm on his cheek.

"I missed you too" Misty sighed. Admitting the truth against her better judgment. It was more than that though. Misty loved Ash, she had done for years, but she felt like nothing more than his pit stop. Their routine had stayed the same for years — Ash would travel off to a far-off region, compete in that region's Pokemon League. Then come back home to Pallet Town where they'd spend all their time together fooling around before Ash headed back out off on his own again.

"Misty? You okay?" Ash asked, derailing her train of thought.

"Huh? Yeah, I'm just thinking," Misty told him.

"About what?" Ash questioned.

"When are you heading off again?" Misty inquired.

"I hadn't really thought about it. Probably in the new year, I'm gonna spend Christmas here at home"

"Oh okay," Misty whispered.

"Why?"

"Just wondering" she sniffed. Ash attempted to place his arm around her shoulder.

"You know I lo-"

"DON'T SAY THAT TO ME." Misty snapped at him suddenly. Jumping to her feet she ran out of his bedroom, downstairs and out of the front door before he knew what had hit him. Without any hesitation, Ash leapt to his feet and immediately gave chase. Misty ran away from Ash's house as fast she could, tears rolling down her cheeks. Stinging in the cold as it began to snow as she sprinted back in the direction of Cerulean City.

"I hate him... I hate him... I hate him... I hate him" She muttered to herself over and over again. She had waited years for him to say those words to her, but she didn't want to hear them like that. Not as a throwaway comment after a sordid fling. As she ran she could hear him calling her name as he gave chase to her. She began to slow her pace down, despite her mind telling her not to. Ash, being the larger of the two was quickly gaining ground on Misty despite the fact that she was slowing down.

"MISTY! PLEASE STOP!" Ash yelled out to her. Misty stopped dead in her tracks and waited for Ash to close the gap between them. She turned around to face Ash.

"What do you want Ash?" She asked arms folded, shivering slightly in the cold. Ash took his jacket off and held it out for Misty to take.

"Here, you're gonna get sick otherwise" Ash offered. Misty just stared at the coat in his hands, not moving to take it from him.

"Why did you freak out back in my room?" Ash asked. Misty wiped the tears out of her eyes.

"Because you were going to tell me something that isn't true" She sobbed

"What do you mean? I do love..."

"SHUT UP! No, you don't! I'm just a fuck buddy for you when you're home!" She yelled at him. Misty quickly regained her composure before simply stating

"I don't think I can carry on like this. I don't want to be your fuck toy" her tone sounded defeated and tired. Before Ash could reply to her she spun around and ran off again.

Ash watched as Misty walked away from him. Her words still ringing in his ears

"I don't want to be your fuck toy" her voice echoed in his head. Ash stormed off back home, marched upstairs to his bedroom and slammed the door behind him, waking Pikachu up, who had been dozing peacefully on Ash's bed.

Ash flopped down on his bed. Pikachu crawled over to him and climbed into his lap

"Pika pi, chu Pikachu pika?" The yellow electric mouse Pokemon asked his trainer

"I had a fight with Misty" Ash answered, understanding the Pokemon perfectly

"Pikachu, chu pi pika?"

"She thinks I see her as just a fuck toy for me to use when I'm back at home" Ash admitted

"Pika pi, Pikachu pi chu pika"

"But it was her idea too! She wanted this just as much as me" Ash started, thinking back to when he and Misty came to their arrangement.

 _Four years ago_

 _Ash, Brock, May and Misty downed their shots and slammed their glasses down on the table, laughing as they joked around. Misty drunkenly leaned on Ash's shoulder, cuddling up to him._

 _"I love you guys so much" She yelled out, leading to cheering from the rest of her friends._

 _"I'm so glad you dumped Gary, you are far, far too good for him" Ash slurred into Misty's ear causing the red-haired girl to blush furiously. Out of the corner of his eye, Ash spotted May leaning over to whisper something into Brock's ear, Brock replied by just nodding._

 _Outside, Brock and May bid the group goodnight and then left together heading towards Pewter City. Leaving Ash and Misty alone outside of the bar, cuddled up together against the cold. Misty looked up at Ash and suddenly pulled him down to her and pressed her lips passionately against his. She pulled away, took his hand and led him back towards the Cerulean City gym._

 _The next morning Ash woke up with a start as Misty rolled over and laid her arm over him. He yawned quietly as he tried to remember what had happened last night._

 _"Morning Ash" Misty smiled as she woke up_

 _"Morning" Ash replied._

 _"Look, I just wanna apologise for last night"_

 _"Huh? Why?"_

 _"Cause of what we did. Look, I just wanna make this clear... I just got out of a relationship and I'm really not looking for anything serious, but last night was amazing, so I just wanna keep things casual between us" Misty explained. Ash listened to her explanation and nodded along as he did, he mulled over her words for a moment before answering._

 _"That's fine by me" Misty quickly pecked Ash on the lips before smirking at him_

 _"Wanna go again then?" She whispered seductively._

Misty stormed through the gym and back to her bedroom, ignoring her sisters who were trying to talk to her. She threw herself onto her bed and began to sob into her pillow.

"I hate him, he's such an asshole" Misty snapped.

"Why did he have to say that?" She questioned. She allowed her mind to wander back to an offer she very nearly couldn't refuse

 _Last year_

 _Misty looked on as her Gyarados attacked her opponents Whiscash. Once the dust had settled on the battlefield Misty smiled confidently as she looked on as her Pokemon stood tall against her opponents_

 _"Whiscash is unable to battle. The winner of the Pokemon battle... Gyarados and Gym Leader Misty" The match referee announced. Misty called her partner back into it's Pokeball before confidently striding over to her defeated opponent. Exchanging a respectful handshake and a few polite words. Just as Misty was about to turn around and walk away. She heard a voice calling her name. A voice she'd not heard for years and thought she would never hear again._

 _"Rudy?" Misty questioned in disbelief as the suave auburn-haired boy approached her._

 _"Long time no see" he smiled warmly._

 _"Yeah, it's been a while" Misty replied, unsure how to feel, but not wanting to be a rude host she invited him through pas the gym and into her living area. They spent the afternoon making polite small talk about the challenges of being gym leaders and the different Pokemon they've caught. In the back of her mind though Misty was replaying the events of the last time they'd met... Rudy wanted Misty back then and going by the look in his eyes, those feelings had not abated and it wasn't long until Rudy addressed the elephant in the room._

 _"You know, there's not a day gone by when you haven't been on my mind, even after all this time, you've always been in my heart" Rudy confessed to her. Misty stiffened up at his words. She took a moment to compose herself before replying_

 _"Look, Rudy, you're just as lovely and nice as I remember but coming all this way, telling me you've spent all these years pining after me, I don't know how else to put this but it's creepy. I'm sorry that you've had a wasted trip but I can't return your feelings and I don't think I ever will... Anyway, you know my heart belongs to... Someone else" Misty admitted_

 _"It's Ash still isn't it?" Rudy asked, heartbroken. Misty just nodded in confirmation._

 _"He's still one lucky guy" Rudy choked before turning around and leaving Misty alone._

Ash needed advice and he knew it. He quickly drew up a list of people he would normally talk to in times like these... This time though, he couldn't call his mother as she was on holiday, he couldn't call Misty cause she was the one he needed advice on, he couldn't speak to Gary cause he's Misty's ex, Brock and Suzie were setting off for their honeymoon as were Dawn and May. He hadn't spoken to Iris and Cilan in years, so they were out. Serena was currently in Hoeen so was unreachable and Clemont was busy helping to rebuild the Kalos region. That only left one person Ash could call. He picked his phone up, scrolled down his contacts and hit the call button

"Hello?"

"Hey, Ritchie. It's Ash"

"Hiya Ash, long time no speak, how're things?" Ritchie asked

"Yeah, good thanks, man and with you?" Ash replied

"No complaints" Ritchie answered. The pair spent so much time on the phone catching up on everything that had happened with each other since they last saw the other that Ash had almost forgotten the reason that he had called in the first place. Ash took his chance to get his advice when there was a brief silence between the pair.

"Hey Ritchie, I um, actually called cause I need some advice and you're one of the only people I can trust to help me properly," Ash told him

"Okay shoot, what's up?"

"You know that Misty and I have had a friends with benefits situation going on for the past few years right?"

"Even though you're completely in love with her?" was Ritchie's snide reply

"Shut up! But yeah" Ash began

"So today I went to tell her that" He continued

"Right..." Ritchie encouraged Ash to keep talking

"But she cut me off and told me not to say it to her. That she doesn't want to be my 'fuck toy' anymore" Ash finished. Ritchie just burst out laughing at Ash's story

"What's so funny?" Ash snapped

"Ash... I'm sorry, you're one of my best friends, but you're a fucking moron. Misty, for whatever reason, is still in love with you and I think she's just tired of waiting for you. She thinks you just see her as a fuck buddy when she wants more and so do you. Now stop being a dickhead and go and tell her the truth" Ritchie told him. Ash thanked him for the advice and hung up.

Throwing his phone onto his bed he turned to stare at his reflection in his mirror.

"Misty. I love you and I'm going to prove it to you. This is gonna be the best Christmas of your life" Ash stated confidently sitting down and pulling a pen and pad of paper towards him, he took a deep breath and started scribbling furiously.

"Pika pi. Pika" Pikachu cheered proudly.

The next morning Ash sprinted over to Professor Oak's laboratory. Sliding to a stop in front of a bemused trio of Professor Oak, his grandson, Gary Oak and their assistant Tracy Sketchit.

"Hiya Professor" Ash gasped as he tried to catch his breath

"Good morning Ash"

"Good morning Professor Oak"

"Is there something I can help you with?" Professor Oak asked

"There is, can I take... Noivern, Bayleef and Sceptile, Torterra and Leavanny please?"

"You can most certainly" Professor Oak answered

"Any particular reason why?" He added

"I'm going off to battle with water type Pokemon," Ash told him. After receiving his Pokemon from Professor Oak and spending some time catching up with Gary and Tracy Ash left the laboratory and called Noivern out of it's Pokeball. Tasking the large dragon type with getting them to the Cerulean City gym. Noivern happily obliged but due to the harsh snowstorm that had kicked up they only made it as far as Pewter City by air.

"Thanks, Noivern, you did great, take a good rest" Ash thanked his Pokemon, recalling it to its Pokeball. He zipped up his coat and after making sure Pikachu was in his usual spot up on Ash's shoulder, he set off running towards Cerulean City. Ash had made it about halfway when he was suddenly brought to a halt by a familiar voice calling his name.

"Ash Ketchum!? Is that you?" Ash stopped and began to look around for whoever was calling his name, at the same time Harrison- Ash's old rival from the Johto region, running towards him.

"Harrison! Hi" Ash smiled

"How are things?" He asked

"Pretty good thanks and with yourself?" Harrison answered, returning the question.

"Not too good but I'm on my way to hopefully change that" Ash replied

"Oh yeah? What's up?"

"Woman troubles" Ash laughed

"Ah, say no more" Harrison smirked

"I was actually going to challenge you to a battle but it can wait. Go and sort your woman troubles out" he added.

"Thanks, Harrison and I'll come back and battle you before you know it" Ash smiled, shaking his rival's hand before running off again towards Misty's hometown.

Ash arrived in Cerulean City, tired and cold from the sweat he'd worked up freezing to his forehead. He blew into his cupped hands to try and warm them up momentarily before he marched off towards the gym. He opened the doors and stormed through to where Daisy, Lily and Violet were stood.

"My name is Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town and I'm here to challenge you three as the Cerulean City gym leaders. Do you accept my challenge?" Ash asked them. The three sister looked Ash over for a moment before bluntly declining his challenge.

"We're not the official gym leaders and anyway didn't you earn your badge from this gym years ago? Daisy inquired.

"Well yeah I did... but I wanted to earn another as I'm planning something special for Misty for Christmas" Ash answered, blushing slightly as he revealed his plans to Misty's older sisters.

"Aww, that's actually kinda sweet but I don't think she wants anything to do with you right now," Lily told him.

"I know. I was an asshole and you can tell her I admit that, but could you also give her this from me? Please?" Ash pleaded, taking a neatly folded letter out of his pocket and offering it to the three girls.

"What is it?"

"An apology and a promise" Ash answered. The three sisters looked at each other for a split-second before Violet took the letter from him

"We'll give it to her" She assured him

"Thank you" Ash sighed gratefully as he turned to walk away

"Wait!" Daisy called back to him. Ash turned back around to face the girls again as Daisy reached into her pocket and pulled out a Cascade Badge.

"I believe this is yours" She winked, handing it over to Ash. He thanked them once again and left the gym.

Violet knocked on Misty's bedroom door.

"Come in" Misty called out. Violet opened her door and walked in, sitting down on the end of Misty's bed.

"Ash came by just now," She told her

"Oh yeah?" Misty questioned, trying not to make herself sound interested

"Yeah, he wanted us to give you this. He said it was an apology and a promise" Violet answered, handing the letter over to Misty, she took it from her and looked down at it.

"Do you want me to leave you alone to read it?" Violet asked

"Yeah, please" Misty replied softly. She waited for Violet to leave fully, not opening the letter until she heard her bedroom door click shut. She opened the letter and read through it carefully. Finishing with a tear in her eye as she read the final line.

Ash was about to leave Cerulean City when he was stopped by a neon sign in a shop to his right. He turned to look and saw that it was a bike shop

'Probably the shop Misty got her bike at... The one that I ruined" Ash thought to himself, allowing a guilty smile to cross his lips. He went inside just to have a quick look around.

"Hiya, anything I can help you with?" A young girl who was sitting behind the counter asked as he made his way into the shop

"No thanks, just looking for now" Ash answered

"Okay, just let me know if you do need anything" The girl beamed happily. Ash had only intended to have a quick look around. That is until he got to the back of the shop, and he saw the display of small model bikes. He immediately spotted the model replica of the bike he ruined all those years ago. Bursting into an ear to ear smile he picked it up and took it to the young girl at the counter

"Just this please" Ash giggled, putting it down for her to scan it. She scanned it, bagged it. Ash handed over the money for it, telling her to keep the change

"Aw thank you" The girl smiled

"No problem, have a good Christmas" Ash replied before leaving the store and heading back to Pallet Town.

Christmas Day

Ash woke up early to the sound of his phone going off.

"Hello?" Ash yawned

"Hi, Ash... I um... I got your letter" Misty answered

"Oh okay"

"My sisters have decided to leave on holiday today, without me... Again, are you still alone or is your mum home from her holiday?" She asked

"I'm still alone" Ash answered

"Do you want some company?"

"Sure that'd be nice"

"Okay, see you in an hour or so?"

"Yeah, okay" Ash agreed

"Merry Christmas Ash"

"Merry Christmas Misty" with that Misty hung up, Ash jumped out of bed and into the shower. Once out he got dressed and gave the house a tidy up before Misty arrived.

An hour later Ash hears a knock on the door. He finds Misty stood on his doorstep, with a tiny package under her arm, her nose and cheeks tinged pink from the cold winter weather.

"Merry Christmas" Ash greeted, stepping aside to let Misty in

"Merry Christmas" Misty replied quietly, she followed Ash into the living room and placed the package down on the sofa in between them.

"Ash..." She began

"Yeah?"

"Did you mean what you wrote in your letter?"

"Every word of it... I'm sorry I acted like such a dick but the truth is I do love you and I always have. I'd do anything for you and that's a promise" Ash told her. That was all Misty needed to hear as she leaned in close to him and pecked him on the lips gently.

"I umm... I got you a little something" Ash told her, getting up and picking up his gift to her from under the Christmas tree, she opened it, looked down at it and just glared at him, he knew what she was about to say and cut her off

"I told you I'd get you a new bike one day" He laughed.

"If it wasn't Christmas you'd be so dead," Misty told him, trying and failing to contain her own laughter as she saw the funny side of the gift

"There's one more though," Ash told her, handing her a smaller, more carefully wrapped gift. Misty opened this one and what was inside made her heart soar. It was her own Cascade badge expertly crafted into the centre of a beautiful golden necklace.

"Oh Ash, it's beautiful" Misty whispered, still captivated by the beauty of the necklace

"I hoped you'd like it"

"I love it and I have this for you" She replied, handing Ash the package she had come with. Ash tore the wrapping paper off of it and took two T-shirts out, one in his size and one obviously made for Pikachu. He burst into a fit of laughter when he saw the images Misty had printed on...

It was an old photo of him and Pikachu stuffing their faces at a restaurant with the caption 'two of a kind' underneath.

"I love them" Ash giggled

"Thank you" He scooted closer to her and threw his arms around her. Kissing her before slightly pulling away and whispering in her ear

"I love you. Merry Christmas"

"Merry Christmas Ash, I love you too"


End file.
